School for Scientific Thought (SST)

We are offering five courses during the Fall session of SST starting Septemeber 24-October 22, 2011, and five different courses during for our Winter session January 28-March 3, 2012. Each session lasts five weeks and will meet on Saturday mornings from 10:00am-12:15pm on the UCSB campus. Students are invited to apply for one or both sessions. The SST classes introduce students to concepts in science that extend beyond the typical high school science classroom – from nanotechnology to reverse engineering – and relate these concepts to “the real world”. There will be no homework and no examinations.

The SST instructors are outstanding young UCSB scientists and engineers who are engaged in doctoral research and want to share their enthusiasm for science, and their expertise in current research, with high school students. Immediately following the class meetings on Saturday mornings, all SST participants will eat lunch together. Optional afternoon activities are available, such as on-campus laboratory tours, visits from the local technical industry, general campus tours, undergraduate panels on college life, and more.

In addition to the excitement of learning concepts involved in current science and engineering research, high school participants in SST gain access to the university setting and to scientist and engineer role models. SST places motivated students from various local and regional schools in direct contact with each other, allowing relationships to develop based on mutual interest in the sciences.

Funding for this program comes from the National Science Foundation.